I'll Be Home For Christmas.

If the world doesn't end, that is. I actually dislike that Christmas song because of the "if only in my dreams" lyric. It's like, you get me all excited that you're coming home and then psyche! Just kidding, I lied. I'm just gonna dream about it, you're on your own. How depressing? Thanks for the holiday spirit. Although I will listen to it if Michael Bublé is singing, just as any other female human being would. Totally cliché, but I don't care. So many fancy é's happening, it's like I'm in Francé. Anyway, I'm pumped because I'll be home for a whole week! Weeeeweeweeee! Or should I say, oui?

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More exciting news, I went to the ER last week. Can't say I've done that before, except I think I went once for an ear infection but I don't count that one. Warning: pictures are coming. 

So I was twitching a horse... 

(it's like this) 

Used as restraint it's a distraction technique where typically (but not always) the
horse will think about it's nose and not whatever the Dr. is doing.
It also releases endorphins, so it's not painful or abusive by any means.

and it unexpectedly jumped forward, pinching my hand (of course it had to be my right hand) between the twitch and the metal pole of our stocks. Afterwards I thought, gee my thumb hurts. So I looked at it and it was bleeding. Then I thought, cool, it happens, whatever. But I looked closer and saw deeper tissue that I shouldn't be able to see. Basically I had a chunk of skin that could just flap in the breeze. I was good for a minute, but after I ran some water over it I got veryyy lightheaded and leaned over the counter. I don't recall the next part because I was passing out, but reportedly my face was smeared on the counter until I started sliding backward. Thankfully Dr. Tull caught my limp noodle, passed out body before I could add a concussion to my injury count. Next thing I know I was lying on the floor with my feet propped up and an ice pack on my forehead. It was strangely similar to waking up from a normal sleep, there was some dream-like scenario playing in my head that I can't remember for anything. 

Anyway, this is what it looked like:

Then I got here:

After cleaning it (ew):

Suturing:

And finished! 11 stitches.

I'm really not sure why I passed out since I watched the doctor put in every stitch and was fine. Blood and needles and that kinda thing don't bother me. I have no good explanation, but I wish I could've seen it, apparently it was funny. I couldn't use it for a couple days at first, so washing my hair, working out, starting my car and holding anything was either difficult or didn't happen. Today my thumb is doing well, still attached and all.

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We had our work Christmas party the day before that crap happened, and I became an official brownie!

Too legit to quit.

I thought about not wearing it to work so that it wouldn't smell like the clinic, but that would be rude and I'd probably never wear it. I love it so much, that's all I wanted and I got it! 

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That was enough excitement for one week.

It's Official.

I'm a Pennsylvanian! I got my driver's license a couple weeks ago and now I won't get in trouble if I get pulled over. Well, not in trouble for that, at least. This is one of the many things that has happened in the past month which I am so so so so so sososososossosoosososoososoooooooo sorry I'm not sorry for lacking on the updates. It's part of my New Year's resolution to write more, but we all know how those resolutions (don't) work.

I went riding again with Latasha & her mom, but it was a slightly colder than last time. I was inadequately dressed. But it was fun and great to sit on on a horse again. It makes me want one. And then I want a puppy. I've tortured myself too many times by looking at the adoptable dogs around here. And everyone knows you can't have just one horse. Or dog. They're like potato chips. Or french fries.

Strollin' down the driveway.

Okay, Tash. Sorry I called him ugly... he is kinda cute.

Now before we got to this picturesque, happy moment, something happened. We were about to ride up a hill and Ginger (Mrs. Tomlinson's horse) decided to race the other two without notice. They didn't go incredibly fast because Ginger's old, but it was enough to freak her mom out a little. Now, when a horse takes off you have to do the opposite of what instinct tells you and squeeze tight to the horse, otherwise if you're loosey goosey then you'll surely fall off. So Tasha yells after her mom, telling her to sit tight, and to make the point further she goes: "Sit deep in the saddle, Mom, like you're taking a shit!"

Omg I just about died, I was laughing so hard. I was still laughing about it an hour later and I'm even laughing about it right now.

Crazy face.

It's so pretty out here!

We made it back alive, everyone in the saddle.

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I WENT TO A STEELERS GAME!!! It was a blast, even though they lost. Tailgating was the best part, of course. We threw a football around, talked to homeless people, saw a car crash, you'll see it all in a second.

Me, Kyle, Melissa, Eric, Dakota & Jamie.

Being weirdos.

Aaaand we're down.

Dakota made friends with the homeless people.

A fender bender happened right at our intersection. The lady in the grass was suuuuper pissed, and the red car is facing oncoming traffic...it was his fault. Clearly not too bright.

Can't live without technology.

We met a couple of homeless guys, different ones than Dakota talked to. I spoke with Bob, on the far left. I hope he's doing well after moving to Indiana for his new lady friend.

Dakota?

Also, nice handshake going on back there.

This picture is as clear as my vision that day.

KIDDING MOM, I was not that bad. Although I did trip over myself and bruised my knee...

Heading up to our nosebleed seats!

Look at the city and the lights and the people. So many people.

Before the game.

During the game. Looks pretty much the same, except they're actually playing football.

We stayed at the William-Penn hotel, which was extraordinary. I don't think I've stayed in anywhere fancier. One of the doormen, Daryl, showed us around a little bit before we went tailgating, which was unusual but very nice of him and super cool. He dropped names of celebrities who've stayed there like they were on fire. I just remember a bunch of presidents and Lady Gaga, but his list went on and on and on. I took a couple videos of him showing us around but it won't load on this site or facebook or youtube and it's super frustrating and I just wish it would work but it won't because it's a rebellious 14 year old going through puberty and not listening to anything authority says. So instead I have the 2 pictures I took since the videos sucked all of the life out of my battery. I bought a new battery, but I would like a new camera. (ahem..Christmas? Mommy?)

The lobby.

Next to the main elevators on each floor there's a mailbox. These are in the older hotels so that anyone, no matter what floor, could send mail without going to the main level. These are functional and are still used today.

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I went home for Thanksgiving, although I was debating whether or not to. It's just a long trip, costs a couple hundred dollars, I only had like, 2.5 days to spend and I didn't get to see my Dad because he was visiting my brother in Texas. But I am glad I went. Ate turkey, saw family, blah blah the usual. I went out on Wednesday night, aka the biggest bar night of the year. I went with my friend, Kati, from years ago when we jumped and showed our horses. I'm so glad we could be reunited and still get along! I also met up with a couple girls from my class in college, found basically a high school reunion at McFadden's, and hung out with Salvador, also a friend from way back.

Kati and I at Eve. Clearly we haven't started dancing yet, we're not very sweaty.

Salvador, Kati and I. He's trying to look tough, but he's really a teddy bear.

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My work schedule has changed twice in the past few weeks. It's now the complete opposite of what I was hired for: Mon-Thurs from 3-11 pm. I don't mind at all, and I think I may like it even better since now I get the weekend, but it's going to force me to become partially a night person. Usually the only thing I see at 11 pm is the inside of my eyelids. I plan on posting more about work, since that's why I moved here in the first place. I found a bunch of pictures about some interesting cases that I've forgotten about so maybe I'll do that next time. And I want to give a tour of my townhouse so everyone can see where I live. If my frickin videos would work, that is.

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Other things thus far:

• We had a pumpkin drawing contest at work for Halloween which I WON! And then I never took a picture of it. I drew Exacto, the horse who has been here since I started except he finally just left this week! Anyway, I had him bucking with the jolly ball toy in his mouth, bandage on his leg, and farting because he did that all the time. Horses usually pass gas when they buck, but it's always funny.
• Took Hannah and Ethan's engagement pictures (I work with Hannah in case you forgot). They're on Facebook, so check them out. I'm pretty proud of them!
• Went to Lancaster today to pick up Mom's sewing machine she found on Craigslist. It's 2.5 hours away. I just became the favorite daughter!
• Had the longest day of work to date yesterday. Started at 8 am and left at 11:30 pm. We had three surgeries and every stall but one was occupied = 11 horses. That's a lot of shit.

The Date Went Great!

So did the second...and the third! My dating life has finally come alive.

His name is Kyle, he's Latasha's brother. At first she tried to set me up on a blind date with him, but I'm a sneak and figured it out. And I'm fully aware that he can read this. 

The first date was at this cool, old Italian restaurant called Puccini's in Maryland. I was so so so nervous! I even texted my mommy, and she told me to just relax and not belch on the first date. Sound advice, Mom :) I was a little worried about the hour drive away (What if it goes badly? What if we have nothing to talk about? What if I eat the wrong thing and have intestinal issues?), but the drive was actually my favorite part. Turns out we had plenty to talk about and have similar tastes in music. Side note: why is it so hard to find a guy who likes country AND doesn't chew or smoke? Just thinking about that crap makes me want to upchuck, but thankfully he doesn't do either (that I know of). Anyway, dinner was really good and we also had Puccini's number one dessert: Bee Sting Cake. That was even better than dinner and I'm glad he let me hog most of it. I could've eaten the entire cake, no joke. Driving back was good, just more music and talking which was fine by me! Found out I am pretty good at making goodbyes awkward. It was nothing horrible, I just can't do it. Fumbling with my keys, when to hug (I don't think kissing is first date material), what to say, planning the next date if there's gonna be one, etc. Anyone else have that problem? I guess starting out that's how it's supposed to be. Suck. But I really did have a great time!

Our second time out we went to a dive bar near his place with some of his friends. There was a band playing and almost everyone had Halloween costumes on. I didn't - it was a pretty lame Halloween for me this year. I'm determined that next year I'm gonna go all out and be a light-up potato chip or something. Maybe even go to Pittsburgh where more of the crazies are, then I'll fit in. Anyway, I caught a glow stick, won a Miller Lite t-shirt for the Macarena, and was kinda buzzed off of two Corona's. It was really fun! Work the next day was not.

Yesterday we went to the movies and saw Paranormal Activity 4. I don't really watch scary movies because they make me feel like someone is in my house, and that's not exactly the feeling I want living by myself, 500 miles from home. But this movie we both agreed was not scary and not good haha. We're planning to see Wreck-It Ralph, which I have higher hopes for. Afterwards he drove to his work at Bedford Springs Resort and showed me around. This place is so old and fancy! It's been around for over 200 years, they've hosted celebrities like Vince Gill and Rascal Flatts and 10 past presidents have been there. Its history is incredible: there are framed pictures and postcards that date back to the 1800s and there's a windowpane, still intact, with some names and the year 1888 etched into it. How cool is that?!

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Frankenstorm/Hurricane-that-turned-into-just-a-tropical-storm-Sandy/what a bitch happened on Monday night. I was fine until midday when I actually turned on the news and then my mom kept making sure I was okay. It was snowy/rainy/slushy and I thought I was gonna lose power so I drove out in that crap to get food and water because I procrastinated earlier but I didn't even need to get anything because the power never went out! Dollar General sold out of flashlights on Sunday and nobody had the right battery for my huge flashlight. I also made cookies in case that's what I had to live off of for the next couple days. But everything turned out fine just like I thought it would originally. Thanks, Mom. Now the snow just stopped after going 3 days straight and if it were 30 degrees colder it would feel like the middle of winter. I'm actually excited for the snow, I'm looking forward to Christmas!

PS: To all family members: I have a Christmas list started. Contact me.

The crappy phone picture of the crappy weather Monday night.
It was worse than it looks.

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More good news: my annoying roommate Alan, Talktomyself Creepo, Weirdo McTool, whatever you want to call him is GONE! The house is wonderful again. I'm living with Stephanie, another tech at Dr. Brown's for now, but she's moving back home to Michigan after this weekend. Then I'll have another med school intern living with me, one with a vagina this time. Hopefully we'll get along better than this last one turned out. Maybe we'll bake cookies and watch rom-coms and braid each other's hair. Or maybe not.

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I also found out that THE CHANNING TATUM is in the area, shooting his next movie. Latasha loves him. We must find him. And kidnap him. Or he can kidnap us. We don't care that he has a ring on it.

Yup, this guy.

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I joined a gym so I can keep up running through the winter. That way I'll hopefully reach my goal of doing the Pittsburgh half-marathon! I'm also lifting some weights...gonna get ripped. I even made a collage for my workout binder with the intention of it motivating me.

The process, complete with Pandora radio.

It only took me like, 3 hours.

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I spent all Tuesday at work to learn IV anesthesia on 5 scheduled castrations. It's not incredibly complicated because they're not hooked up to the gas machine and the procedure is 20 minutes, max. Since the doctor works at the back end, the main goal is for him not to get kicked. After 5 in a row, I think I can do it with my eyes closed now! The next step is for me to start doing gas anesthesia for the longer procedures, which I'm still kinda terrified for.

Snuggling with his jolly ball toy.

Exacto is still here, he's getting quite fat now since he's been locked up in a stall for months. The only time I like him is when he's laying down or sedated because he doesn't know what to do with himself. He bites and wants to play, but his idea of playing and my idea of playing are not similar.

It's kind of difficult to tell with this picture, but this horse had a hole from it's coronary band (at the top of the hoof) straight through the bottom, as you can see. The gray stuff is a type of putty to seal the hoof and prevent any contamination so it can heal. The hole was cleaned out to see it's progress and we put more of the putty over the hole when it was finished.

And this guy had a paranasal sinus cyst removed...just in time for Halloween!

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I Cut A Horse's Nut Off This Week.

So don't mess with me. 

Okay, it was in for a castration so it was purposeful, but still. Watch yourselves.

I apologize for the (exact) month of my lazy existence with no updates. This will be a long one, more writing and fewer pictures. Oops, get over it. 

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Since I work weekends, people often ask me what I do on my 4 days off, so this is what happens:

• Facebook to feel like I have a social life.
• Pinterest with the intention of starting diy projects, finding recipes I'll probably never try and looking for hot guy celebrities.
• YouTube. Right now I'm watching all of the videos by DailyGrace (I'm on #204 right now). She is hilarious and I want us to be friends and go drink alcohol sometime. If you have a sense of humor, then please check out her videos: http://www.youtube.com/dailygrace.
• Working out/running when I feel like it. Lately, it's not often.
• Going to my sugary sweet candy land rainbow utopia. My sweet tooth is like Buzz Lightyear: to infinity and beyond. I used to think pumpkin stuff was overrated, but this year it's my weakness.

Time well spent.

KIDDING. Sort of. I do spend a ridiculous time on the internet, though. And eat too much food. But lately I've been getting bored with myself, which is kind of a nice change from the last 2 years of intense school I had. I think I deserved a freakin break. But now I've been brainstorming ways I can work on improving my life. Isn't that what life is about? Working your ass off to make your life decent so that others can live off of your tax dollars? I don't mean to get political ('tis the season), but that's pretty much all I know about politics. I'm an uninformed individual, but I'm working on it.

I have a lot of goals to set for myself, like to get back into photography, to get really really fit (thinking about the Pittsburgh 1/2 marathon next year...), and in general to just be a better human being. I've subscribed to TIME (and have yet to read an article, haha), joined Lumosity (a site with games for the brain to improve cognitive whatever mumbo jumbo), and I actually just joined Toastmasters! It's a national organization to work on communication skills and public speaking. One thing about me: I HATE PUBLIC SPEAKING. So I'm trying to conquer that. But hey, I got a ribbon! I also got a "First Timer" ribbon, but I'm cleaning my room and it doesn't want to be found.

This is funny because it's on a table.

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Many people don't know this, but I was living in a B & B for the past couple months. That sentence just sounded like I was admitting a big secret addiction. Not the case, haha. My landlord owns multiple housing places and just bought a townhouse just before I moved to PA in August. Some roofing guys had a project in town and rented out the whole place, long story short: my move-in date for the townhouse kept getting pushed back and pushed back & kept getting more and more annoyed. But I'm FINALLY in the townhouse where I'm supposed to be. I'm finally organizing/decorating my room how I want it. I'm finally realizing how much shit I have.

I also have a roommate. His name is Alan. Alan's a med student/intern something at the hospital in town. Alan's incredibly irritating. Alan has horrible sarcasm, an annoying laugh, and is constantly clearing his throat unnecessarily loud. I actually heard Alan talking to his food one day about how delicious it was, but all he ever eats is PBJ. I thank every higher power that student rotations are only 6 weeks and his is almost over. I try really hard to not see Alan as much as possible. When he leaves I'm gonna dance around this place in my underwear because I can.

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I do have some boy news that isn't so aggravating, I'm rather excited, actually: I'm going on a date! I don't know when, but soon. I hope. The suspense keeps things interesting I guess. I really am looking forward to it though! Cliffhanger for you, haha.

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Work is going very very well, I'm in the process (still) of learning anesthesia, which is (still) completely terrifying to me! I was able to place an ART (arterial) line during one surgery, and on my first try...not to brag or anything. That is the main way to monitor horses while under anesthesia; by putting in a small catheter into an artery, which is typically on the face, to gauge their blood pressure.

This is what it looks like!
My spectacular work.

Like I said previously, I helped emasculate a horse. You can't say that every day! The clinic's annual chili cook-off was today and I actually participated! Dr. Brown won, so everyone knows it was rigged. I've never made chili, or anything else that elaborate before. Which is kinda sad, since it's not elaborate at all, but another goal of mine is to learn how to cook. I'll be happy if I'm half as good as my momma, because she's great at it! I actually hated chili when I was little, so I used a fruity chili recipe. Among other things, it has an apple, nectarine and 4 tablespoons of sugar. TOLD YOU! Sweet tooth.

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Speaking of mom, I went home to Michigan last week and it was wonderful! I apologize if I didn't get to see you, but I only have 2.5 days to visit. She made so much (too much) good food and it was just really nice to be back. It still hasn't really hit me that I'm on my own, and in another state, no less. I think it's less of a big deal and more like a fun, learning experience. Anyway, I went downtown GR (a real city!), I saw both of my grandmas, some good friends, the parents (obviously), my awesome sister at GVSU, and I even visited WMVS, the vet clinic I did my externship at during school. I love that clinic and it was good to see everyone again!

I also went to Artprize...another goal of mine in the long run. I didn't see as much as I wanted to because the weather decided to be like all bitchy and rainy on the day I went.

I saw the horses, of courses.

Individual things to make a big thing. It's bright, so I like it.

This was pretty cool.

Me and Christina on the motorcycle.

Being away from home makes me realize how much I miss it and I really do love where I grew up. My plan is to move around and travel while I can, but I'll definitely be going back eventually and permanently.

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Super sweet if you read all of my boring news. I'll bake you some congratulatory cookies and then eat them all :)

"I Do" Love Ribs.

Over labor day weekend my parents came down to visit me! And since Somerset isn't exactly hoppin' 24/7, we drove to Pittsburgh for the annual rib festival. Ribs are pretty much my favorite food. It. Was. Magnificent.

Our tourist picture with Pittsburgh.

Steely McBeam himself! I bet the real guy beneath the costume wasn't as happy, 

it was hot as balls that day.

They're serious about their ribs there.

 

 

Enjoying the calories at Heinz Field.

 

OH YUM YUM YUM OH YUM OH YUMMMMM

DEEP FRIED OREOS OHHH YUM YUM YUM OH YUM

(Crazy) Smokin' Joe. 1st place for comedic effect, close 2nd for ribs.

Next to the stadium is this cool place with all of the Steelers Superbowl 

trophies and memorabilia stuff.

Special thanks to my mom and dad for coming to visit me and buying me things!

I love you both!

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And last Saturday BEH's own technician, Chrissy, got married! I went to the reception late because of work, but it was a lot of fun and totally worth the exhaustion that followed the next couple days. I line danced in heels, took shots of moonshine, ate too much dessert, and found out (my boss) Dr. Brown can get down.

My fantastic BEH peeps!

(L to R) Rachel, Latasha, Becky, Hannah, Kim, and Busty (I think?). Not a BEH employee.

And clearly, Chrissy and I :)

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I also went riding with Latasha on a super gorgeous day. It was great to get back in the saddle after I don't even know how long!

Hank liked my sunglasses :)

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